I mean someone who rises before the sun and prepares a hot breakfast for your family? Me neither. When my children are visiting, they get French toast one morning but the rest of the mornings it’s cereal.

When we first opened the cafeteria inside the Mitsubishi-Hitachi plant, I was going to work at 4:30 a.m. to help the new cook with breakfast. We cooked eggs, biscuits, sausage gravy, hashbrowns, bacon and sausage every morning and had it ready by 5:30 a.m.

I proved I could do it but it’s not something I would volunteer to do! As soon as I was sure the cook could do it by herself, I happily reset my alarm clock for 6 a.m., a more reasonable time to start the day.

I guess I will deprive my grandchildren of the memories I have of breakfast while visiting my grandma. She made us whatever we wanted. Cinnamon toast and oatmeal were two of my favorites. I still have a vision burned in my mind of soft white bread fresh out from under the broiler covered in cinnamon and sugar and four puddles of melted butter. I loved her toast and no one has ever been able to make it taste as good as she did.

I also liked it when there were some leftover biscuits from lunch the day before. She would split them in half then smear both halves with lots of butter and put them under the broiler in the oven. The edges would turn brown and crunchy, but the centers were soft and buttery. A jar of jelly and a couple of those biscuits were pure joy for me.

Let’s face it, those were the “good ole” days. My grandmother was a retired school teacher when I was in my pre-teens. Today, most of us grandmothers are working 40 hours plus a week. Gone are the leisurely, slow pace breakfasts with our grandchildren. But with a little planning, we can build memories of a different sort for our children and grandchildren.

Quick breads, breads that don’t require yeast to rise, can be made in advance and refrigerated or frozen. They can make you look like a kitchen magician. When you know company is coming, pull out the already baked goodies, buy some orange juice, cut up some fruit and you’ve got a gourmet breakfast that will impress anyone.

These first two recipes were what my dear friend found waiting for her Mother’s Day morning. What a great way to say “I love you.” But then she is an amazing woman who obviously passed on her awesomeness to her daughter!

Teri Bell is co-owner of Miss Sophie’s Marketplace at the Mighty Eighth in Pooler. Go to sophiesmarketplace.com.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Makes a dozen large muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 large egg

1 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

SUGAR TOPPING

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick vegetable cooking spray or for less messy fingers, line tin with large paper cups.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl until combined. Whisk egg in second medium bowl until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar and whisk vigorously until thick, about 30 seconds; add melted butter in 2 or 3 steps, whisking to combine after each addition. Add sour cream in 2 steps, whisking just to combine.

3. Add frozen berries to dry ingredients and gently toss to combine. Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain and batter will be thick). Do not overmix!!!

5. While muffins are cooling, mix sugar, ground cinnamon, and lemon zest in small bowl and melt butter in small saucepan. After baked muffins have cooled five minutes, working one at a time, dip tops of muffins in melted butter and then cinnamon-sugar. Set muffins upright on wire rack; serve.

In a food processor with a blade attachment, process half of flour mixture and half of chilled butter, pulsing until mixture resembles coarse meal. Put the processed mixture in a large bowl. Repeat with remaining butter and flour mixture.

Mix in dried cranberries. Gradually add buttermilk, folding with a rubber spatula until moist clumps form. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead just enough to bind dough, about 4 turns. DO NOT over work the dough.

Note: To freeze, after shaping the discs and cutting into six wedges, wrap each disc with plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag. To prepare, remove scones, proceed with buttermilk and sugar topping and bake. Do not thaw scones but add few more minutes to baking time.

CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES

My oldest grandchild, Isaac, is on the Feingold Diet. His daddy (my awesome son) and his mother bring these pancakes with them when they visit. They just warm them in the microwave for breakfast.

3 cups Milk

6 tablespoons Butter, Melted

3 cups Flour

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 teaspoons Salt

2 tablespoons Sugar

2 Eggs

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips

Warm milk to about room temperature. Add melted butter to milk and set aside. In a large bowl sift dry ingredients together. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the eggs and wet ingredients. Mix well. Be sure to scrape the sides. Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter onto pan and smooth out. Drop chocolate chips over the batter. Brown on both sides. To freeze lay in one layer on a cookie sheet and place in freezer. Once frozen, remove and store in large Ziploc bag.

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